


Red/Green

by cyrocypher



Series: HCLW (mostly grg and chocotemp) fics [cyrocypher] [1]
Category: HCLW (Webcomic), Hardcore Leveling Warrior (Webcomic)
Genre: (Basically everything's the same but if they die, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood, Hurt/Comfort, I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm ceo of choco bibi now, Lucid Adventure - Freeform, Lucid Adventure but it's real life (not very important), M/M, Mild Fluff, Pls why does my son always get clapped, Rewritting and rewritting because I am a perfectionist lmao, S1 spoilers, They don't die don't worry, different povs i spin a wheel in my brain and come up with who's pov would be the angstiest, i love them, they die. Unless they have some sort of immortal potion going on)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25014340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyrocypher/pseuds/cyrocypher
Summary: I know people are probably never gonna see this because of the emptiness of the fandom but I hope that at least one person out there who enjoys chocotemp like I do :,)Come and yell at me @ceo-of-choco-bibi on tumblr!!!(Revamped on 12 Aug 2020 to 1.2k words)(Revamped again on 7 Feb 2021 to 1.6 and counting)
Relationships: (grabs google slides) listen, Choco Bibi & Everyone, Choco Bibi (HCLW)/Tempest (HCLW), Chocotemp, very mild - Relationship
Series: HCLW (mostly grg and chocotemp) fics [cyrocypher] [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1811194
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after Battle of the Gods. My man was bleeding out of like all three of his eyes and his head was on magic teleportation fire thing. I can't believe they didn't touch on that.  
> \--  
> Lucid Adventure real au! Having god items to revive you from death is possible, but it's rare so they try not to die as soon as possible. Cue Choco Bibi dying at almost every major fight GRG goes through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Battle of the Gods.

Glowing lights blink to life above their heads, spreading like a flame across the arena. They hover above the players' heads, like little halos. There’s so many of them that they start to blur in the distance. The spell should have succeeded, then. (He strikes a Nightmare with the butt of his gun.) The light makes it slightly easier to differentiate the players from the Nightmare clones.

"TO THE LEFT!" Soup yells out.

The air rushes about him as he swivels and aims, marker trailing lazily above him. (Tempest shoots a bullet into that freaky magician girl’s forehead, leaving an angry red mark.) (Out of nowhere, a translucent blue dragon screeches and materialises on the furthest platform to the right. It slams against its nightmare clone and they both disappear in a large poof of smoke.) In return, he stuns a nightmare aiming for Soup's neck with a bullet to its chest. 

The whole place’s been tossed into chaos; the arena's infamous "unbreakable” rock platforms shattering into bits, flinging debris into orbit. In the centre of it all, the gods engage in a furious battle. Clashes of dazzling red and white spark from their swords, energy ripples off their skin in invisible waves. Bits of pieces of heated conversation can be heard above the battlefield, ancient tongue undecipherable as the gods cuss each other out. (A particularly heavy swing of God of War's sword sends a wave of air that crumbles a piece of stadium.)

Fighting off a dozen enemies at once is really starting to tire him out, from conjuring new mana bullets to aiming at people coming from different angles at frightening speeds. (He throws a sluggish shot at some moving figure before realising it was a player. Oops.) His chestplate starts to grow heavy with weight.

Suddenly, green light eats at his fingertips and the scene before him changes in the blink of an eye.

—

Green isn't Bibi’s favourite colour. He's told him before when Tempest asked years ago. 

"Well, I understand the assumption," He frowns. A small teleporting marker appears in his free hand, dazzling green flashing in his palm. "That's not it, though I do like the colour."

“Then… what is it?”

"Does it matter?"

"Just answer the question..."

Bibi laughs. "Red. You?"

—

He doesn't realise how loud the arena's been until teleportation envelops him and pulls him away from reality. His ears ring with phantom battle cries as he begins to materialise. The process is quick, but familiarity guarantees him a whiplash-free experience. (Soup pops up behind him. "Fuck," he hisses when Tempest swings a pistol into his shoulder. "Sorry," Tempest mutters back, sheepishly.)

Fingers trembling with residue adrenaline, he sweeps dirt from his outfit. Well, it seems like they're outside the guild house.


	2. Chapter 2

Bibi wakes up in an unfamiliar field.

_Did the spell work? Are they safe?_

The first thing he notices is that his surroundings are _freakishly_ _green_. It's like someone decided to douse the whole world in shades of green: the formless sky and grass melting into a disorienting array of green tones.

_Where am I._

Wherever he is, he's never been here before. His magic shouldn't have brought him here. 

_Hell, even the clouds are slightly green._

When he picks himself up, he hears them.

_“What now?”_

_“What do you **mean** what now? You were-” _

_“...blame me?! How could you when-”_

_“STOP ARGUING. IT DOESN'T MATTER!”_

_"Of course it does-"_

“Hello?” He yells. The question echoes through the field. It seems that the voices more or less hear him because they quieten. “Who are you? Do you know where... this is?”

_"Why the hell is there a witch here..."_

_"...did you?"  
_

_"Of course not, this has got to be a mistake or whatever-"_

They bicker for a few seconds before finally, one of them decides to address him.

_“Hello, child. Do you remember how you got here?”_

The disembodied voice is kind and soft. His head throbs as he recalls the previous events, but the memories evade him. He looks down at his fingers. They feel as solid as ever. “Well, I’ve never been here before, and I can't visit places I've never been. I’m not dead, am I?”

 _“Dead?”_ It chuckles, laughter twinkles like stars. _“Not yet.”_

“Sorry?”

_“Kidding."_

_"Stop joking around!"_

“Wha… Never mind. You still haven’t answered my previous questions.”

 _“No need to know who we are; you’ll forget it all when you wake up anyways. Point is - there are too many people who still need you, too many battles you need to fight.”_ The voice splits and frays, layers overlapping and volume multiplying. _“Hm, yes I see it now. Poor child. So much pain ahead of you.”_

The wind picks up and howls in his ear. “What does that mean?”

_“Farewell, now. Keep fighting, little witch. The game continues.”_

“What game? Stop-”


	3. Chapter 3

Some sort of glowing snow starts to fall from the sky. For some reason, green light continues being emitted, this time coming from inside the house.

_What..?_

Master Swordsman has the privilege of opening the door. The smell reaches Tempest’s nose before he sees it - the iron tinge in the air is enough to make his stomach lurch.

———

_“Alright, listen up! We have a newcomer!”_

_The guild master gestures towards Tempest and asks him to introduce himself. He can hear them whisper amongst themselves._

_“He’s got a nice voice!” “Good looks, too.”_

_Flush._

_“Hey newbie, we have a tradition. When you first join the guild… you’ve gotta sing a song!” One of them prods him with a grin plastered to their face._

_The guild starts cheering. Oh no. (Someone hands him a spoon._

_“A mic,” They giggle.)_

_His cheeks are burning as he glares down at the offending wooden spoon. He steels his nerves and really, he doesn't have a choi-_

_“Come on, guys, grow up! Stop making him uncomfortable… We’ve never had that kind of tradi-“_

_The guild leader leaps at someone with a weak mock-kick, the rest of the words die in the guy's throat. He has bandages wrapped around his forehead, curly hair peeking through the white fabric. Tempest can hear his name being thrown around as the rest of the guild yells at him for ratting them out._

_Choco Bibi. It’s a cute name._

——

The green finally dies down; Bibi’s suspended figure crumples to the floor, unmoving. Red leaks from his eye, forming crimson pools on the floor. His hair is soaked with the viscous liquid, camouflage clothes blooming with patches of blood, pale skin stained in dark streaks.

Red.

Red.

**Red.**

The world stops for a moment as the scene before him sinks in. Standing there rooted to the floor like a statue, the world feels like it’s _spinning_.

“Bibi..?” Soup croaks, voice coming out in a terrified crack.

He barely registers moving to kneel beside the body. Tempest tries to ignore the cool blood seeping into the fabric of his jeans. Bibi’s skin is cold to touch. His face is ashen, beneath the drying blood.

He feels so fragile. Like brittle glass. Precious gems. His body seems to tremble in harmony with Tempest’s as he scoops him up gently into his arms.

“Bibi?” Drip. A tear falls onto his cheek, it trickles down and washes away blood in its path. The body he’s cradling feels heavy and solid, like an item instead of a person. 

"Fuck, is he..?"

Drip. He tries again, “Bibi."

"Tempest-"

Drip. 

He doesn't wake up.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you going to let me out of here yet?" 

Green's beginning to become their least favourite colour in terms of ranking. They're freaking surrounded the bright and unnerving and artificial colour. Grass remains stiff when he brushes past, clouds stay fixated in the sky. It's getting more annoying than unfamiliar, with how long he's been here. Actually, they don't know how long it's been. It could be days. Weeks. Mere hours. 

The voices haven't responded _once_ since leaving them with that ominous message and so they've been left alone to explore the area. So far, the sickeningly pale green grass seems to spread past the horizon, not showing any end despite how long they've walked. It's almost like no progress has been made at all. 

Maybe they've died and the voices were just fucking with them. This is their eternal punishment: walking forever in neon green shit. 

\--

It's been days. They alternate between sitting beside Bibi or talking to them, while they sleep. Basically, just making sure Bibi won't be alone when (if) they wake up.

"They're alive," Tempest swears, "They're breathing. Their heart is beating. They're _alive."_

Coco thinks he's just slightly hysterical, but everyone in the guild somewhat is right now. There was too much blood on the floor that day. They'd probably never wake up again. In fact, they could slowly die of dehydration and hunger as their body tries to mend itself. They could just stop breathing and they wouldn't know because right now, they barely are.

It would be better to not hope anyways.

\--

Sometimes, they blacks out. 

Sometimes, their legs buckle and they crumple to the ground, only to regain consciousness in what feels like a second later.

And when that happens, they're still in the same green field. 

When that happens, they swears that the green tree they see is the one they saw at the start, that the grass piercing into their ankles feels the same as the ones at the start, that they've been put back just so they can start over again.

Maybe they weren't supposed to leave.

Maybe this is a game they're playing, to keep them in here for as long as they can.

\--

It feels awkward sitting beside this person she's only known for a few days, watching them fight for their life. She can't bring herself to hold their hand and rub hesitant circles into them like she's seen Tempest do, can't ramble on about mundane activities and tasks she's done throughout the day like Soup does, can't rest her head into his bed without saying a word after a long day of work like Master Swordsman does. 

She shouldn't be here. She's been with the guild for barely a week but it feels like she's arrived at just the wrong time. Between taking part in and losing the most prestigious tournament in the land, the chaotic events that took place right after and... this. She's definitely intruding on whatever they're going through right now. 

A Giga member doesn't mourn their people, or wait for those fallen behind, or sit by their bed to make sure they're fine. They fight relentlessly and understand that everyone here is working for a paycheck. It's a world where dog eats dog and everyone gets stepped on if it means progress for the other person. Disposable. No one is worth fighting for but yourself.

No one-

She saw the distrust in Tempest's eyes and the uncertainty in Drip Soup's when she first entered the guild house. The subtle judgement under a mask of enthusiasm under Master Swordsman's. The plain impartialness behind Bibi's.

 _I'm here for the tournament, not to stay._ She tells herself. _It doesn't matter if they don't like me._ No, it doesn't hurt at all. They'd keep this facade up and treat her kindly until it's over. But somewhere along the lines, something changes:

Soup warms up to her and offers a brand new sword he'd polished for her; Tempest extends his hand for a quick heal mid-battle; Master Swordsman plans out a short training regime fitted for her. Bibi takes a hit that she could've withstood. 

So, it's her responsibility and moral right to stay here, at least until Choco Bibi wakes. At least, that's what she says.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drip Soup chapter lmao

He's been feeling horrible this week. 

"Today, we went to gather herbs from the mountain. It... wasn't really interesting, but!-"

Time passes quickly, too fast. Without much thought, the day passes. The hours slither past him, discretely, silently, like sand slipping through his fingers. 

"Today, we went to finish a newly spawned domain. I'm pretty sure there were some Giga mercenaries there too, but they-"

He's spent an hour sitting here talking to him. He's spent the afternoon doing chores. He spent yesterday fighting monsters. He took ten minutes today having makeshift lunch. It all feels the same. It's been a week, it's been a day, it's been seconds. It's horrible.

"I don't know why I'm feeling this way. I-" He chokes. "It's just. It's lonely without you here, bro."

Bibi remains unresponsive.

-

Drip Soup is brave. He's the loud one in the group, the one to jump first into battle. He's been called a fool, an idiot, and a meathead. He's been described as reliable, loyal, and reassuringly naive. With the broad, chipping sword that he wields, the showy orange hair that he has, no one expects much of him, but to be a headstrong swordsman. 

So when a particular magician wakes the whole house with his awfully cheesy message every morning: 

"WAKE UP BITCHES! It's 8 p.m. let's get this show on the road fools! Don't forget to brush your teeth cause you all stink, also don't forget I love you all very much. Anyways, today we're gonna wreck the Grassfields domain this afternoon for drops..."

He responses with a loud "FUCK OFF!" and gets ready as fast as possible. 

When a particular magician plans their missions and makes sure there are enough breaks,

takes the time to prepare snacks for everyone and makes sure Soups eats after a mission because god knows he forgets it,

he accepts the horribly made sandwich with a "thanks".

When a particular magician decides it would be okay to accept another swordsman (swordswoman?) into their guild,

without asking him,

it hurts his pride.

But he's okay with it anyways because his magician makes the best decisions and this swordswoman deserves the love that he got from his friends when they first brought him in. It's fine because he knows she's not a _replacement_ for him. Master Swordsman gives his old broadsword to her for a test-run and then they spend a day fighting a domain for an appropriate drop.

This was fine. 

But his magician decides to take the time to sit down with him and they have a long talk. It ends with a hug and Soup feeling a lot better about himself.

So.

When his best friend is laying down on a bed next to him. 

When his best friend's been laying here for a _week_. 

He feels oh so fragile, not at all like the brave swordsman he's supposed to be.


	6. Chapter 6

Master Swordsman doesn't know how to feel about this situation.

Hopeful? Well, he's got to be. Everyone else in this house looks like they're starting to prepare for a funeral. The gods would never share an ability with a mortal without ensuring that they would survive. All the gods had their own biases; they sure as hell weren't gonna kill off someone they just chose as a successor. Probably. Hopefully.

At the same time, he feels despair. He _knows_ Choco Bibi is strong. Heck, they've been together for six years and counting. He himself gave Choco Bibi all the training they got. The kid's the toughest and snarkiest he's ever met. He's sure they were gonna survive. 

Were they? He knows- they're persistent. They _have_ to be. Bibi would never die here. Otherwise- otherwise, what would he do? ~~Master Swordsman's buried a friend before. This wouldn't be much different.~~ Could he face his team, knowing, _knowing-_ god. 

Scared? Well yeah, anyone would be. Angry? At Giga, those bastards for not helping. He was right there when they-- the whole barrage their fucking leader-- _chose_ to walk away from an entire _goddamn population getting caught_ _in some fucking crossfire against gods._ Giga definitely had, _has_ the power to bring at least half the arena to safety if they wanted to, but nooo, they were selfish, _arrogant_ , _**bastards with their heads stuck up their asses-**_

_**and now, his friend was DYING here, because they couldn't handle teleporting an entire arena by themself, of course they couldn't they're a fucking child-- They shouldn't be caught in this bullshit, shouldn't be on their potential death bed-- None of them should. Not Choco Bibi, not Tempest, not Cocomori or Drip Soup, not Dark--** _

_**Maybe, if Giga decided to help, they wouldn't be here fearing for their friend's LIFE. Maybe, if the gods weren't selfish pricks who cared for power more than the wellbeing of people they--** _

_**They-** _

_**God. He's really failed as a leader, hasn't he?** _

-

Master Swordsman can't bring himself to say a word to the sleeping figure of his best friend. 

In the short week they have, he's fallen into some weird routine in greeting the magician. First, after a mission, he heads for their room without hesitation. He sits by their side, heavy armor clattering onto the floor clumsily. He winces, before remembering that they're kind of in a coma. "Screw it," He thinks, "The more noise the better right?"

Maybe they'll wake up and start yelling for him to shut up.

Then, he spends his allocated time sitting beside Bibi. In silence. He sits, until unbearable heat gathers beneath his remaining layers and armor, then picks up his shoulder pieces from the floor and leaves. 

"I-" He spends an hour trying to find words to say on Monday, the first day after everything had "settled down". Bibi had been put into a bed, wounds bandaged as best as Tempest could manage. The room's basically a repurposed guest room; well-illuminated and ventilated.

"We-"

"I-" He repeats somewhat dumbly, feeling sick to the stomach and bloody exhausted. Thoughts scramble through his head and everything he wants to say seems either inappropriate or just pathetic.

_"Sorry."_

_"I hate you."_

_"I love you, not in that way, not to be cheesy, but I really do hope you know-"_

_"If you die I'll never forgive myself, you know?"_

_"If you don't wake up, I swear I'll fucking kill you, dude."_

_"Wake up. Wake up you selfish bitch. Wake up."_

_"Please."_

In the end, he lays his head on the soft blankets without speaking. Sleep, that cruel bitch, evades him. (Not that he wants to. That sounds kind of miserable. Imagine being Tempest. "Wake up bitch it's my turn on the pining.") He takes in the feeling of the fabric, the phantom movement of Bibi's breathing, the itch under his skin, until it all becomes too much.

Finally, he leaves.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment and kudo if u enjoyed :D
> 
> Scream at me @ceo-of-choco-bibi. We vibing.


End file.
